Dr. Gourab Bhattacharya
About
I am a geologist specializing in thermal histories of mountains and basins. Using minerals like zircon, apatite and muscovite, I study the time-temperature paths of rocks as they recycle in the Earth's crust over millions of years.
​
In Fall 2022, I joined the Department of Earth Sciences at Tennessee Tech University as an Assistant Professor of Mineralogy & Petrology. I teach courses in Mineralogy, Igneous & Metamorphic Petrology, and Economic Geology. I also manage the Earth Sciences X-Ray Diffraction Laboratory.
​
This website is still under construction and will be updated in the coming weeks.
​
Wings Up!
Research
I quantify the timing of burial and exhumation of rocks in orogenic systems to understand the crustal dynamics associated with an orogen’s evolution. In particular, I am interested in subduction zone rocks, which are often deformed. Subduction zones are an archive of depositional, tectonic, erosional and geodynamic processes that affect the Earth’s lithosphere over millions of years.
The key questions that my research is based on are:
​
Which rock terranes contribute mineral detritus in an orogenic basin?
What are the tectonic and erosional processes responsible for cooling and exposing rocks from depth at the surface today?
How does continental subduction at the lithospheric scale affect rock exhumation in the upper crust?
My research combines fieldwork and laboratory components. I use zircon U-Pb geochronology, muscovite Ar-Ar geochronology, zircon fission-track thermochronology, and (U-Th)/He zircon-apatite thermochronology to ascertain the time-temperature histories of crustal rocks. In addition, I am also keen to understand how the time-temperature space and the paleo-stress fields evolve in volcanic passive margins associated with continental rifting.
Timing of India-Asia Plate Collision from the Indus Suture Zone
Tectonics and Exhumation of the Indus Suture Zone, NW Himalaya
Strike-slip Tectonics in the Deccan LIP, western India: Implications for India-Seychelles Rifting
